RULE 2-424. ADMISSION OF FACTS AND GENUINENESS OF DOCUMENTS
 

(a) Request for Admission. A party may serve one or more written requests to any other party for the admission of (1) the genuineness of any relevant documents described in or exhibited with the request, or (2) the truth of any relevant matters of fact set forth in the request. Copies of documents shall be served with the request unless they have been or are otherwise furnished or made available for inspection and copying. Each matter of which an admission is requested shall be separately set forth.


(b) Response. Each matter of which an admission is requested shall be deemed admitted unless, within 30 days after service of the request or within 15 days after the date on which that party's initial pleading or motion is required, whichever is later, the party to whom the request is directed serves a response signed by the party or the party's attorney. As to each matter of which an admission is requested, the response shall set forth each request for admission and shall specify an objection, or shall admit or deny the matter, or shall set forth in detail the reason why the respondent cannot truthfully admit or deny it. The reasons for any objection shall be stated. A denial shall fairly meet the substance of the requested admission, and when good faith requires that a party qualify an answer or deny only a part of the matter of which an admission is requested, the party shall specify so much of it as is true and deny or qualify the remainder. A respondent may not give lack of information or knowledge as a reason for failure to admit or deny unless the respondent states that after reasonable inquiry the information known or readily obtainable by the respondent is insufficient to enable the respondent to admit or deny. A party who considers that a matter of which an admission is requested presents a genuine issue for trial may not, on that ground alone, object to the request but the party may, subject to the provisions of section (e) of this Rule, deny the matter or set forth reasons for not being able to admit or deny it.


(c) Determination of Sufficiency of Response. The party who has requested the admission may file a motion challenging the timeliness of the response or the sufficiency of any answer or objection. A motion challenging the sufficiency of an answer or objection shall set forth (1) the request, (2) the answer or objection, and (3) the reasons why the answer or objection is insufficient. Unless the court determines that an objection is justified, it shall order that an answer be served. If the court determines that an answer does not comply with the requirements of this Rule, it may order either that the matter is admitted or that an amended answer be served. If the court determines that the response was served late, it may order the response stricken. The court may, in place of these orders, determine that final disposition of the request be made at a pretrial conference or at a designated time prior to trial.


(d) Effect of Admission. Any matter admitted under this Rule is conclusively established unless the court on motion permits withdrawal or amendment. The court may permit withdrawal or amendment if the court finds that it would assist the presentation of the merits of the action and the party who obtained the admission fails to satisfy the court that withdrawal or amendment will prejudice the party in maintaining the action or defense on the merits. Any admission made by a party under this Rule is for the purpose of the pending action only and is not an admission for any other purpose, nor may it be used against that party in any other proceeding.


(e) Expenses of Failure to Admit. If a party fails to admit the genuineness of any document or the truth of any matter as requested under this Rule and if the party requesting the admissions later proves the genuineness of the document or the truth of the matter, the party may move for an order requiring the other party to pay the reasonable expenses incurred in making the proof, including reasonable attorney's fees. The court shall enter the order unless it finds that (1) an objection to the request was sustained pursuant to section (c) of this Rule, or (2) the admission sought was of no substantial importance, or (3) the party failing to admit had reasonable ground to expect to prevail on the matter, or (4) there was other good reason for the failure to admit.
 

Case Law on Point:

Maryland case law on point states: The purpose of the Rule is not the discovery of information but the elimination at trial of the need to prove factual matters which the adversary cannot fairly contest. Murnan v. Joseph J. Hock, Inc. 274 Md. 528, 335 A.2d 104.

In the event you fail to respond with in the time frame outlined is there recourse. The answer is yes. The law permits you to make motion to withdraw to admission "‘Any matter admitted under this rule is conclusively established unless the court on motion permits withdrawal or amendment of the admission. Subject to the provisions of Rule 16 governing amendment of a pre-trial order, the court may permit withdrawal or amendment when the presentation of the merits of the action will be subserved thereby and the party who obtained the admission fails to satisfy the court that withdrawal or amendment will prejudice him in maintaining his action or defense on the merits. . . .’ It is generally permitted to that ‘The court may, to prevent injustice, allow the party making any such admission to withdraw it or relieve a party from any implied admission, upon such terms as may be just." While it is true that the Maryland Rules of Procedure are to be “strictly followed[,]” Williams v. State, 364 Md. 160, 171, 771 A.2d 1082 (2001), the discovery rules in particular are to be “liberally construed” in order to effectuate their purpose. Mullaney v. Aude, 126 Md.App. 639, 649, 730 A.2d 759 (1999). Thus, although appellant did not file a separate motion to withdraw any facts deemed admitted, we find it sufficient that she included such a request in her response to appellee's motion for summary judgment and in her response to appellee's motion to strike her responses. See also Wormwood v. Batching Systems, Inc., 124 Md.App. 695, 702-05, 723 A.2d 568 (1999)(noting that substantial compliance with the Maryland Rules will be sufficient, in certain instances, where the opposing party has suffered no prejudice). Appellant requested the court to permit withdrawal of the matters deemed admitted and presented argument in support of that request. In so doing, appellant certainly gave appellee notice of her intention, effectuating the purpose of the discovery rules. See Laws v. Thompson, 78 Md.App. 665, 689, 554 A.2d 1264 (1989)(“The Maryland discovery rules were deliberately designed to be broad and comprehensive; their purpose is to assure that no party go to trial in a confused or muddled state of mind regarding the facts giving rise to the litigation.”). As established by the permissive language throughout Rule 2-424, the court has a great deal of discretion in deciding how to handle the situation when an untimely or insufficient response to a request for admission is filed. See Baltimore Transit Co. v. Mezzanotti, 227 Md. 8, 13-14, 174 A.2d 768 (1961) (noting that trial judges are primarily vested with the discretion to administer and apply the discovery rules). Under our standard of review, we shall not disturb such decisions, absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Id. at 14, 174 A.2d 768. “An abuse of discretion is present where no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the [trial] court. Thus, where a trial court's ruling is reasonable, even if we believe it might have gone the other way, we will not disturb it on appeal.” Doe v. Maryland Bd. of Social Workers, 154 Md.App. 520, 528, n. 7, 840 A.2d 744 (2004) (internal citations and quotations omitted).As the text of the Rule makes plain, however, an untimely response does not automatically require that the response be stricken and does not, by itself, prevent a court from allowing withdrawal of any deemed admissions. Gonzales v. Boas 162 Md.App. 344, 874 A.2d 491 Md.App.,2005.